New Overwatch Patch Features Hero Updates, Bug Fixes And More

Blizzard recently revealed details on the latest patch notes for the PTR version of Overwatch. The public test realm version of the game is only available right now for PC, but the changes being made in the PTR will be applied to the home consoles when it's released for the public.

Over on the Play Overwatch website, they detailed what's included in the patch. One of the major changes is that each of the heroes will have details about their unique backstories outlined in their Hero Gallery, along with more information about the skins that are attached to their lore.

One of the other major issues they've addressed are draws in the Competitive Play. A lot of gamers complained that too often the matches would end in a draw and that it stripped away the intensity of the bouts.

They've decided to rectify this problem in Overwatch by mitigating draws using a system that follows and tracks a team's progress during the Assault/Escort maps and a winner will then be determined based on which team has made the most progress or captured the largest portion.

For those of you participating in the PTR, the maps for this new draw fix will be limited to Eichenwalde and Hanamura. They've also modified Eichenwalde, adding a new route to the map that connects the attacking team's spawn area to one of the capture points in the map.

A variety of changes have also been made to one of the heroes in Overwatch: Lucio. He has had some slight alterations made to his skills, especially his Heal Song, which has had its effectiveness amplified by 50%. They increased his movement speed during Wall Ride, and he's also received an increase in speed when leaping off walls.

Lucio is the only one receiving any real attention during the Hero update for Overwatch. Their other primary focus has been on fixing the bugs in the game, including a bug that prevented people from unlocking achievements during off-season competitive matches. They also had to fix another issue where voice lines were being played during the Play of the Game segment.

While the Custom Games mode may have been the subject of exploitation by farmers looking to gain some quick experience while AFK, they're still tweaking this mode so that players can't exploit it. During the PTR build of Overwatch, they've fixed an issue centered around allowing empty player slots to be displayed even while it's disabled, along with fixing a bug that prevented the pause feature from working after the host left the match.

Even though Lucio was the only one who received some major tweaks this time around, it doesn't mean Blizzard didn't have to fix some other bugs associated with the other heroes. Ana, for instance no longer cocks her rifle after throwing a grenade, and they also fixed a bug causing Mei's pinky to bend in uncanny ways while decked out in two of her skins, specifically her Chang'e and Luna skins.

A few minor fixes have also been made to the Overwatch maps as well, mostly centering around exploits people were using to glitch around the map and gain an advantage on the opposing team.